Character	Da Ji
Appearance	The Journey
Media	Chinese Drama
Type	Yandere (Minor)
Love Interest	King Zhou

Da Ji is a character from the Qin Dynasty story arc. She is the elder sister of Ya Long, and the queen of King Zhou.

SPOILERS AND PERSONAL OPINION

It is quickly revealed that the Da Ji is an imposter of the original queen, who also goes by the name “Xi”. Along with Ya Long, they are the only two vampires left of their entire clan.

Deeply in love with King Zhou, Da Ji imprisoned the original queen in an underground chamber. There, she uses her powers to remove Xi’s face and apply it on her own skin, manipulating the King into thinking that she is the original Xi.

Such method does not come without a price. Each time Da Ji exchanges her face for someone else’s, her own face deteriorates and dries up, rendering her once beautiful face increasingly disfigured. On top of that, she will continuously suffer unbearable pain from this technique, which exacerbates during the time when the skin peels off. As the skin only last about a month, she will have to keep doing it at the expense of her own beauty and health.

Da Ji spent everyday happily with the king. The king never suspected anything, and loved her the same. He doted on her plenty, going along with all her whims to make her happy. However, deep in her heart, Da Ji still worries that it is not her whom the king loves, but the original Xi.

Subsequently, the werewolves became rampant in the region, and Ya Long came to inform and persuade Da Ji to escape the palace before it becomes too dangerous. However, Da Ji adamantly refused to do so, and replied that she feared losing the king more than death.

Ya Long will continue to persuade her time and again to leave the palace with him, or she may very well lose her life. But, Da Ji was resolved to stay by King Zhou’s side no matter what.

Later, Xiao Shang and Ye Yin, who were posing as a high wizard and messenger respectively, attempted to seek the missing Xi. Their actions may potentially reveal Da Ji’s real identity. To keep her identity secret, Da Ji ordered for the both of them to be killed, and when it failed, personally sought Ya Long and begged him to do the job.

Unfortunately, her secret was still revealed eventually. On an occasion, when Da Ji used her powers to protect the emperor from a vampire, it became evident that she wasn’t human too. At this juncture, the real Xi was brought forward to the king, and the king felt shocked and betrayed by Da Ji.

As the king escaped with Xi to a safer place, Ya Long came once more to convince Da Ji to leave with her. Staying in the palace was no longer possible, it could only mean death for her. However, Da Ji again refused to do so, stating that she would much rather die than to live without King Zhou forever.

Soon, Da Ji managed to seek out King Zhou. She begged for him to let her remain by his side; she wanted nothing more. She revealed the pain and anguish she went through in order to stay by his side, as her skin peels off once again, finally revealing her own disfigured face to the king.

Believing that the king never loved her, Da Ji ultimately chose to end her own life. On her side, she never stopped loving King Zhou. As she perishes, only her hand-carved hairpin was left behind for him. The king only realized he loved her after her death, but it was all too late.

Although she was portrayed as a evil character, to me Da Ji was pitiful as much as she was sinister. She would not have met all these sufferings if not for her love for King Zhou. Her life would be everlasting, but it ended so soon due to her stubborn love for him.

I was contemplating if she was obsessed or a yandere, and I went with the latter. She went to drastic measures to stayed by King Zhou’s side, and although will never hurt him, was willing to hurt or murder anyone else. She also has a kind side for her only brother, but she gave up escaping with him to stay with King Zhou.

I really liked this character, and sincerely hoped that she can have a good end with the king. Unfortunately, this never came true.